Ken Severin, Weddings by Blue Plate catering extraordinaire!!

It took me awhile to pin Ken down for this interview so lets not wait a second longer …

Good Afternoon Ken, thank you for joining me for a glass of champagne.  Can you tell me how you got into Catering?

Oh, I guess this all stems from my mother.  When I was younger, my mother would entertain a great deal.  So, I guess my love of food and entertaining comes from her.  I imagine the catalyst for my career was that day when I was nineteen, studying French in Paris and just happened to wander into the doors of the famous Le Cordon Bleu de Paris.  The next thing I knew I was enrolling into their program.  (It was an opening which had just become available as someone had withdrawn.  The program started the next week)!  I completed the Cordon Bleu’s Grand Diploma a year and a half later.  Then, one thing just led to another.    

You have been in the business a long time, what do you love about it?

I love the moment when all the elements of a party come together, and the client is very content.  I like knowing that I contributed to their happiness.  

What do you not love about it?

Oh, well, it’s never fun when the party’s over, right?

Where is your favorite venue to work in?

I have very modern taste.  So, I enjoy venues such as the Ivy Room, the River East Arts Center, Prairie Productions and A New Leaf.  In particular, I enjoy working at the Ivy Room as I adore their venue rep! (we here at Greatest Expectations approve of this shameless plug for Donna at The Ivy Room because we adore her also! Stay tuned to future Champagne interviews because we hope to sit down with Donna soon.)

What are your three favorite items on the Weddings by Blue Plate menu?

Blue Plate’s Executive Chef, Paul Larson, always continues to amaze me. At a recent menu roll-out, in particular, I enjoyed two hors d’oeuvres: an organic grit cake with a sweet corn succotash and a risotto “pillow” with mascarpone, golden raisins, brown butter and sage. 

What are your three favorite desserts on the Weddings by Blue Plate menu? 

I enjoy many of Blue Plate’s desserts.  In particular, I enjoy our petit strawberry-rhubarb crisp, our mini caramel mousse “bombe” and our French macaroons.  (you guys have heard me go on and on about those tasty little Blue Plate sweets, how could I possible leave this all important question out of Ken’s interview!)

If you were not in catering what would you be doing?

A wedding consultant.  (I am so glad Ken is not my competition!)

What is your favorite color? Fashion Designer?  Restaurant?

Well, I’m not too much into fashion.  But, I do like the color green, and I have a lot of favorite restaurants.  My current favorites are Sola and Blue Plate’s restaurant, Bluprint.  North Pond Café has always been a favorite of mine.  

If you could design your own wedding (or special event) what would it  look like?

I would want great food, great wine, and great company.  For me, that’s what it’s all about.  

Do you travel often?  What was your favorite place to visit?

I don’t know if you’d say that I travel often.  I do, however, go each year to the Stratford Festival of Canada with my family.  We all enjoy theatre very much.  

What is your favorite thing about working with Greatest Expectations?
You make everything appear so effortless!  And you surround yourself with some wonderful people.  I like everyone with whom you choose to work.  

Thank you Ken! Those are very kind words and we appreciate them very much. It is always a pleasure to work with you and the Weddings by Blue Plate staff.  We look forward to a continued and growing friendship and partnership with you.

Here is a “retro” picture of our friend Ken. He refused us a current picture but we got so much enjoyment out of this one we could not leave it out.  My little PSA, however, Ken is smoking a cigarette in this picture.  We just want to go on record as saying we do not advocate smoking in anyway and are great friends of The American Cancer Society.  I duly shamed him for having a smoke in his hand when I first saw the picture

Christine Byers Vansaghi, former client and friend!

Thanks for chatting with us Christine!! Lets jump right in …

How are you enjoying married life? Is it what you expected?

Married life for us is somewhat not too different than single life. My husband and I were together for nearly 10 years before we got married. But it definitely feels like we truly are a unit now. Everything is shared and we make decisions with the words “we” and “us” instead of “I” and “we.” It’s great to have a partner like that.

What is your favorite thing about being married?

I think my favorite thing about being married is living with my best friend. 

I know your wedding was over a year ago but do you remember what your favorite part of the day was?

My wedding truly was the best day of our lives and a day I must say I probably think of it way more than I should. But in the tough times, especially during the trying economic times, I find myself returning to that day and the happiness I felt. My favorite part of the day was walking up to my husband and seeing him turn around to see me for the first time. We decided to do pictures before the ceremony, so we had to see each other before the big moment. You arranged for us to see each other in such a beautiful setting at Olive Park.  We wanted our wedding party to be there as well. Everyone broke out in spontaneous applause when my husband and I embraced. It meant so much that you walked me up to meet Tony!

What was your favorite “detail” about the wedding?

My favorite detail about the wedding was my flowers. I absolutely loved working with Kelly at Fleur, thank you for introducing us to her. The colors I selected for my wedding were kind of difficult to match, and the florist found these orchids that were absolutely amazing and beautiful. They are now my favorite flower and every time I see one I get a smile on my face.

Were there any surprises?

My parents surprised us with a carriage ride from the reception back to our hotel. It was a perfect ending to a seemingly perfect day. It gave my husband and I a chance to be alone and reflect on all that had just transpired. We truly felt like we were living in a dream.

Did you enjoy working with all of your vendors?

I did enjoy working with most of my vendors. My minister was very pushy, but you were right there to address the problem. I also wish my photographer would have adhered to our time line better (you created such a great, detailed timeline) and selected a better place to shoot our formal family portraits. But the photographer was not a vendor you recommended and neither was the minister. So, it figures they would be the ones that would turn out to have some issues.

What was your favorite place to shop for wedding items?

We did a lot of Internet shopping and there really wasn’t one place in particular that stood out. My favorite shopping experience was at Wedding Belles in Barrington. It’s a consignment shop where I found my wedding dress. 

What was your favorite part of the planning process?

My favorite part of the planning process was selecting the flowers as well as the catering tastings. Fleur was extremely helpful and creative and Blue Plate was as well. Those companies were willing to do whatever it took to make sure I was satisfied and to get my business. I believe your input in both situations played a big role in their commitment to making sure I was comfortable and happy with everything.

If you could have changed anything what would it be?

I would have hired Greatest Expectations sooner and had you in on every decision I made about my vendors. 

Any regrets?

My husband and I decided not to give a speech before the reception began thanking everyone for their contributions to making our special day everything that it was. We regret not doing that. We can’t even remember why we didn’t get up and say something, other than we were running a tad late and had toasts to get through. 

When you look back, how was your actual wedding different than you had envisioned it being?

We thought it was better than we envisioned it to be. We couldn’t believe everything turned out the way we wanted it to and we both owe it to you, Heather. We’re sure there were fires that had to be put out along the way, but we’ll never know about them because you dealt with them all. All we have is the memories of the best day of our lives.

Do you remember how you felt the day after your wedding?

We left for our honeymoon at 5 a.m. the next morning and all we could do for the first few days was talk about how amazing the wedding was. To be honest, I actually felt depressed because it was all over. I felt that way for several weeks and still do sometimes when I hear of one of my friends getting engaged or going to another wedding. Working with Greatest Expectations made the experience of planning the wedding and the event itself so wonderful that I wish I could do it all over again! And I feel bad for girls when I hear them say, “I can’t wait for it to be over.” But I think it’s easy to feel that way when you don’t have someone to help you through the stress of dealing with vendors and planning.

What five words best describe working with Greatest Expectations?

Comforting, Enlightening, Fun, Dependable, Easy (she made everything seem easy and was easy to work with)

Thank you Christine, for taking some time out of your very busy schedule to chat with us.  We truly enjoyed working with you and your wedding was amazing for all of us!  Your continued friendship and support means the world to us!

Here is our favorite picture of Christine and Tony from their extra special day!